Margot Harrison Is Delightfully Clinical in “The Counselor”

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Margot Harrison proves once again that she’s in the nation’s top tier of critics with “The Counselor.” She also proves that some of the best work in film criticism right now is being done in smaller publications, but that’s a topic for another time.

For now rest assured that you won’t be disappointed. You’ll know you’re in good hands from the start as Harrison’s opening paragraph bursts out of the gate with one of the most concise and pitch perfect condemnations anyone has offered yet: while most films fail due to a lack of inspiration, “it takes talent to make a film so creatively, indelibly awful that anyone who sees it is likely to reference it for years to come.”

Harrison resists the urge to simply mock or take pot shots at The Counselor, though the temptation must be strong—most critics have gone this route. She’s more interested in meticulously dissecting it to see why its insides are all rotten. This clinical curiosity serves her well and readers will want to don a lab coat to ooh and ahh over the moldy guts she so surgically reveals.

Almost everything works here and you’d be a fool to miss out on this gem.